marvelfandomcom-20200222-history
Rachel Leighton (Earth-616)
, partner of Dum-Dum Dugan, ally of Captain America, , formerly , , (Delaware ), | Relatives = Daniel Leighton (Cutthroat) (brother); Ricky Leighton (brother); Willy Leighton (brother); Mrs. Leighton (mother) | Universe = Earth-616 | BaseOfOperations = S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, formerly Serpent Citadel, Camp Hammond, currently Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. | Gender = Female | Height = 5'11" | Weight = 153 lbs (65 kg) | Eyes = Green | Hair = Brown | Hair2 = (usually dyed magenta) | UnusualFeatures = | CharRef = | Citizenship = American | MaritalStatus = Single | Occupation = Costumed adventurer, S.H.I.E.L.D. special agent, former professional mercenary | Education = | Origin = | PlaceOfBirth = Austin, Texas | Creators = Mark Gruenwald; Paul Neary | First = Captain America #310 | HistoryText = Early Life Rachel Leighton was born in Austin, Texas. However, she spent her formative years in the Lower East Side of New York City. Rachel had a brother, Danny, also known as Cutthroat. It was Danny and another of her brothers, Ricky, who originally fell in with a gang lead by a man known as "Bing". Yearning to be included, she approached Bing alone. Upon claiming she would do anything to join the gang, Rachel was beaten up and apparently raped by Bing, who years later became the costumed mercenary Crossbones. Diamondback Rachel herself later became a mercenary, Diamondback. One of the members of the original Serpent Society, Diamondback was a seductively sly woman with expertise in hand-to-hand combat, gymnastics, and thrown weaponry, having been trained by Anaconda at Taskmaster's academy. Her gimmick was that she threw acid-laced, explosive, or poison-tipped diamonds at her enemies. After her first confrontation with Captain America while on assignment to find and kill MODOK, she was instantly smitten with him. Diamondback was later assigned to take Captain America into custody from the villain the Porcupine. In reality, the hand-over was a set-up so that Captain America could capture the Serpent Society. Realizing they'd been set up, Diamondback threw explosive-filled diamonds at Porcupine, damaging his armored battlesuit. Incensed at the damage to his only valuable possession, the Porcupine attacked Diamondback, but was fatally injured by a quill from his own suit. The serpents escaped, and the Porcupine died. She later looked into the murder of her teammate, Death Adder, by the Scourge of the Underworld, in the process avoiding assassination by Scourge when he shot at the Serpent Saucer containing herself and her teammate Cobra. The terrorist Viper later staged a coup of the Serpent Society, causing several of her underlings to infiltrate the group as new members and setting Viper up to take over by force. Diamondback and their then leader, Sidewinder, escaped, recruiting Captain America and his allies to help rescue those Serpents who were still loyal to Sidewinder. After a fierce battle, in which Viper was defeated, Sidewinder abandoned the Serpent Society. Rachel was later revealed to have resigned from the Serpent Society, and temporarily switched bodies with the X-Man, Dazzler due to the interference of Mister Jip. This led, in part, to a confrontation between the Serpent Society and the X-Men. Diamondback later alerted Captain America to the Bloodstone Hunt - the hunt for the fragments of the Bloodstone formerly worn by Ulysses Bloodstone. She aided Captain America in combat against Batroc, Machete, Zaran, and their leader Baron Zemo. She also encountered Crossbones for the first time, and was captured by him and imprisoned in a cathouse in Madripoor. Diamondback escaped, however. Diamondback later accompanied Captain America to the Red Skull's Skull-House. Diamondback and Captain America eventually went on their first date, aided by Rachel's friends in the Serpent Society, Asp, Black Mamba, and Anaconda, who made sure the date wasn't interrupted by a range of minor villains, including Trump, Gamecock, Poundcakes, and Jackhammer. Diamondback then battled the Avenger the Black Widow, who was unaware of Rachel's change in affiliation, and acquired a new costume. Diamondback was eventually put on trial by the Serpent Society for her consorting with the enemy (most of the Society assuming, incorrectly, that Diamondback had betrayed their secrets to Captain America) and found guilty for her actions, and almost executed. She escaped with Captain America and Paladin's help, and later hired Paladin to help get revenge on the Serpent Society. BAD Girls Inc. Along with her best friends, the Black Mamba and the Asp, she formed the mercenary group BAD Girls Inc. Femizons After a failed kidnapping attempt from Anaconda, Diamondback was taken aboard Superia's ship, and joined her Femizons under duress, along with her friends and teammates Asp and the Black Mamba. While aboard Superia's ship, she was attacked and dumped in the sea to drown by the Femizon Snapdragon, who Diamondback had dishonored in some unspecified way while they were studying at the Taskmaster's academy. Diamondback developed a phobia of her dangerous lifestyle and of Snapdragon in particular, giving up her costumed identity for a time. When she came into contact with Crossbones again, he kidnapped her, starved her, and abused her until she agreed, with ulterior motive, to steal packages of Captain America's blood from Avengers Mansion. After being used as a test subject by the Red Skull to see if the blood packets Crossbones had brought him really contained Captain America's blood, the now super-soldier serum-enhanced Diamondback became moderately unstable. While on a mission to AIM Island with Cap, Rachel tracked down and confronted her enemy Snapdragon, who Rachel killed in the fight. Later, there was a glitch discovered in the serum that Cap was suffering and Diamondback went to Superia in hopes for a cure. Using her as a test subject, there was a 50/50 chance that the cure would either work or kill Diamondback, and if it worked, Diamondback would have to serve Superia as the second Snapdragon. The experiment was a success, but she later got out of this deal when Superia was killed. Some time later, Diamondback was infected with "mind-control nanoprobes" by Baron Zemo. Diamondback suffered extensive neurological damage from the experience and spent an extended period of time recovering in S.H.I.E.L.D. care. BAD Girls, Inc. later reappeared with the original lineup intact. Civil War/The Initiative Diamondback later turned up along with Asp and Black Mamba during the Civil War as a member of the Secret Avengers. Rachel has been identified as one of the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1. Diamondback appeared at Camp Hammond, as an official recruit for the Initiative, along with Ant-Man, Crusader, Melee, Geldoff, Dragon Lord, Geiger, and Red Nine. After the Skrull Invasion, Diamondback handed out assignments to the graduates. When Camp Hammond was shut down by newly appointed Director Norman Osborn, Diamondback joined the staff at the newly established Camp H.A.M.M.E.R. However, she was in fact an inside agent for the Avengers Resistance, feeding information to them about the corrupt Initiative's moves. Unfortunately, when she became romantically involved with Constrictor, he accidentally found out after Night Thrasher's escape. Rachel attempted to assure Constrictor that her feelings for him were genuine; he decided to keep her secret, fearing that she might be killed. Siege When Osborn sics the whole Initiative against Asgard, Diamondback was close to turning the tables on the villains when Maria Hill turned up to rescue Thor. Constrictor grabbed him before her explosive diamonds hit the ground. They then witnessed the Sentry killing Ares before seeing Steve Rogers and his allies arrived. Joining S.H.I.E.L.D. When Steve Rogers became the new World's Top Cop and months later decided to reactivate S.H.I.E.L.D. under the direction of Daisy Johnson, he offered Rachel a job as special agent and partner of Dum-Dum Dugan. | Powers = Diamondback has no powers, and was clearly hinted to be below Class 50. | Abilities = Diamondback is an Olympic-level athlete who excels in gymnastics, an accomplished hand-to-hand combatant, and an expert thrower of knives and other sharp objects. | Strength = Diamondback possesses the normal human strength of a woman of her age, height, and build who engages in intensive regular exercise. | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = Formerly Serpent Saucer. | Weapons = Diamondback wields an undisclosed number of 4-inch long elongated diamond-shaped throwing spikes. She refers to these weapons as "diamonds," even though they are not made of actual diamond (which would be far too expensive for use). Stored in her boots, gloves, earrings and elsewhere on her costume, these diamonds are needle-sharp and sometimes filled with various substances. Known diamonds in her arsenal have contained a lethal fast-acting snake venom-derived poison, an impact-detonated explosive with the concussive force of 10 pounds of TNT, a highly corrosive concentrated hydrochloric acid, tear gas, and a fast-acting sleep-inducing narcotic. At least one set of these diamonds were designed by the Tinkerer. | Notes = Diamondback was transfused with drug-tainted blood from Captain America that contained the Super-Soldier Serum. This gave her enhanced abilities and an unstable mania for a time. The mania faded in a matter of months, but whether the Serum effects remain is unknown. | Trivia = Known Vices: Diamondback has been seen smoking cigars on several occasions. | Links = }} Category:Leighton Family Category:Trained by Taskmaster Category:Thrown Weapons Category:Gymnasts Category:Below Class 50 Category:Weapons Expert Category:Humans Category:Government Agents Category:Avengers Support Crew members Category:Camp Hammond Trainees Category:Martial Arts